Millions in damage in France: Cyber attack paralyzes freezers in supermarkets

A cyber attack at night disrupts the functioning of refrigerators at several French retail chains. Food has to be thrown away - the damage is likely to be immense. The public prosecutor's office is investigating.

A large-scale cyberattack has disrupted refrigeration systems in the markets of several major French grocery chains. The hackers managed to switch refrigerators and freezers to defrost mode during the night, a spokesman for the Les Mousquetaires trading group, which owns the Intermarché and Netto supermarkets, said. Around 150 of the group's stores throughout France are affected.

The head of the Coopérative U group, Dominique Schelcher, also confirmed an attack on X that affected cooling systems in several stores. He called them “unprecedented” and “unacceptable.” According to media reports, other chains are said to be affected. As the spokesman for Les Mousquetaires said, the attack was directed against a Danish software service provider that various food retailers work with.

The spokesman for Les Mousquetaires also said that many products would now have to be disposed of. The extent of the damage cannot yet be foreseen. According to the head of Coopérative U, the company's teams were working with refrigeration engineers to restore the situation as quickly as possible. Intermarché pointed out that such incidents are not covered by insurance. According to media reports, the extent of the damage could amount to several million euros

The cybercrime department of the Paris prosecutor's office took over an investigation into the attack. According to them, fire outbreaks were also reported. The investigation should make it possible to “identify the victims and establish a connection with the damage they reported,” the public prosecutor’s office said.